Critical Minerals: The Opportunity in Direct Lithium Extraction

Rising demand, disrupted supply chains, and concerns around shortages of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths are driving prices to record highs, as more countries pursue deep decarbonization strategies through renewables and electrification. This report focuses on the widening divide between lithium supply and demand and the emergence of new raw material extraction technologies to get this critical metal to market faster. Lithium supply chains not only affect battery producers and automakers, but they also create opportunities for chemicals companies, upstream energy players, and engineering and equipment providers. We lay out a landscape of lithium production approaches and issues and analyze the competitiveness of emerging direct lithium extraction (DLE) techniques and unconventional lithium resources.